Cuba Says Guns Arriving From US In Luggage

Cuba has complained to the United States about guns arriving in the island nation in luggage checked at Miami International Airport, a published report said Wednesday.

State Department officials said the Cuban government had cited two such incidents in 2010, and a travel company official told The El Nueveo Herald that Cuban officials told her there have been at least six such incidents this year.

“I can’t bring a box of cigars from Cuba because of the embargo, but these people are taking guns to Cuba. Sheez!” said the travel company official, who asked that her name and her company’s name not be used.

A State Department spokesman said that Havana had made no complaints about guns since the 2010 incidents.

Sari Koshetz, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman in Miami, said she could not comment on any specifics of the Cuba gun cases but said security was the top priority.

“TSA works closely with our Cuba counterparts, as we expand our partnership to provide a high level of mutual transportation security,” she told the Herald.

TSA regulations allow firearms on flights in checked-in luggage, but all guns must be unloaded and locked in hard-sided containers. Ammunition must be packed separately and the guns must be declared to the airline at check-in.